Earl Bostic Blows a Fuse
Released ;1985
Label : Charly
Format : [email protected]
This 1985 Charly LP provides a 16 track overview of Bostic’s career from his 1940s Gotham and early King jump sides, through his early 1950s big selling singles to his mid to late 1950’s dance sides.
Bostic's distinctive style, strong on the sax and heavy on the beat, was quite successful in the rhythm and blues market in the 1950s. One of the few jazz musicians of his generation with formal training, Bostic studied composition at Xavier University in New Orleans in the early 1930s, and then spent several years performing with territory bands in the Midwest as well as with Fate Marable, who led one of the last Mississippi riverboat bands.
His reputation as a superb instrumentalist earned him an invitation to come to New York City, where he played with Hot Lips Page and Lionel Hampton. After a couple of years with Hampton, during which he became more and more active as an arranger, Bostic left to work as a free-lancer, writing for bands such as Jack Teagarden's and Louis Prima, and taking occasional playing jobs. He was a regular at the legendary sessions at Minton's nightclub, where Charlie Christian, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and others helped create what became known as bebop, and Bostic was considered one of the hottest players on that stage.
Then, after the war, he bucked the trends and formed his own band while others were folding theirs. His success at first, recording for the small label Majestic, was nothing special. But then he trimmed the group down to a seven-piece ensemble and adapted his arrangements to emphasize a simple melody line on sax and a strong dance beat, and switched to the Gotham label, where he had a Top 10 R&B hit with a cover of "Temptation." Two years latter, Syd Nathan lured him away to his Cincinnati-based label, King, and Bostic remained one of King's featured artists until his death. Ironically, Bostic sold better in white markets than black, perhaps the only black artist of who that could be said.
Bostic went on to place four other tunes, including his most famous single, "Flamingo," in the R&B Top 10 list. Although he kept a core group that included Gene Redd (later a successful R&B producer) on vibes, the list of musicians who spent time playing for Bostic is pretty impressive: John Coltrane, Stanley Turrentine, Blue Mitchell, Don Byas, Cozy Cole, Tiny Grimes, Sir Charles Thompson, Jackie Byard, Benny Golson, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and Earl Palmer, just to name a few. Although Bostic's sound was rather strident on most of his King hits, Art Blakey once said that, "Nobody knew more about the saxophone than Bostic, I mean technically, and that includes Bird."
In the late 1950s, Bostic suffered from severe heart problems and stopped performing and recording for nearly two years. He moved to Los Angeles and resumed performing intermittently in 1959, but he never returned to the pace of the early 1950s. He also returned to recording, but this time with a more laid-back kind of soul-tinged jazz. He died after suffering a second heart attack while playing a hotel opening in Rochester.
Tracklist:
1. Night Train
2. 8.45 Stomp
3. That's The Groovy Thing
4. Special Delivery Stomp
5. Moonglow
6. Mambostic
7. Earl Blows A Fuse
8. Harlem Nocturne
9. Who Snuck The Wine In The Gravy?
10. Don't You Do It
11. Disc Jockey's Nightmare
12. Flamingo
13. Steam Whistle Jump
14. What! No Pearls
15. Tuxedo Junction
16. Seven Steps
Earl Bostic alto sax (all tracks)
Track 1 and 15 : Wallace Snow vibes, Ernest Crawford piano,
Tony Rizzi guitar, H J Timbrell bass, Earl Palmer drums
Recorded 19 December 1957 in Los Angeles
Track 2 and 11 : George Parker piano, Vernon King bass,
Shep Sheperd drums
Recorded 1948 in NYC
Track 3 : Lemon Boler trumpet, Tony Scott clarinet, John Hardee tenor sax
George Parker piano, Jimmy Shirley guitar, Jimmy Jones bass,
Eddie Nicholsson drums
Recorded June/July1946 in NYC
Track 4 : Elmer Schmidt vibes, Charles Lawrence piano,
Tony Rizzi guitar, H J Timbrell bass, Earl Palmer drums
Recorded 30 January 1958 in Los Angeles
Track 5 : Pinky Williams alto sax, Joe Mitchell trumpet, John Coltrane tenor sax,
Joe Knight piano, Jimmy Shirley guitar, Ike Isaacs bass,
Specs Wright drums, Gene Redd vibes
Recorded 7 April 1952 in Cincinnatti
Track 6 : Richard “Blue” Mitchell trumpet, Eldridge Morris trumpet,
Stanley Turrentine tenor sax, Stash O’Loughlin piano, Mitchell “Tity” Webb guitar
George Tucker bass, Celia Lopez piano, Granville Hogan drums,
Bob Bustamente, Bill Gallerdo, Jose Mendoza latin percussion
Recorded 27 May 1954 in Los Angeles
Track 7 : Roger Jones trumpet, Lowell “Count” Hastings tenor sax,
Jaki Byard piano, Vernon King bass, Shep Shepherd drums
Recorded 13 January 1949 in Cincinnatti
Track 8 : Elmon Wright, Joe Coles trumpets, Benny Golson tenor sax,
Stash O’Loughlin piano, Barney Kessel guitar, George Tucker bass,
Ralph Jones drums, Larry Bunker vibes
Recorded 23 April 1956 in Los Angeles
Track 9 : Roger Jones trumpet, Lowell “Count” Hastings tenor sax,
Rufus Webster piano, William “Keefer” Betts bass, Shep Shepherd drums
Recorded 28 May 1949 in NYC
Track 10 : Lowell “Count” Hastings tenor sax, Clifton Smalls piano,
Edward Barefield guitar, William “Keefer” Betts bass,
Joe Marshall drums, Gene Redd vibes
Recorded 13 October 1950 in NYC
Track 12 : Lowell “Count” Hastings tenor sax, Gene Redd trumpet and vibes,
Clifton Smalls piano,Rene Hall guitar,
William “Keefer” Betts bass, Jimmy Cobb drums
Recorded 10 January 1951 in NYC
Track 13 : Richard “Blue” Mitchell trumpet, Ray Felder tenor sax, Joe Knight piano,
Mickey Baker guitar, Ike Isaacs bass, George Brown drums, Gene Redd vibes
Recorded 17 December1952 in Los Angeles
Track 14 : Richard “Blue” Mitchell trumpet, Tommy Turrentine trumpet,
Stanley Turrentine tenor sax, Luis Rivera piano, Herman Mitchell guitar
Mario Delegarde bass, Alber Bartee drums
Recorded 6 June 1952 in Los Angeles
Track 16 ; Lowell “Count” Hastings tenor sax, Clifton Smalls piano,
Al Casey guitar, William “Keefer” Betts bass,
Joe Marshall drums, Gene Redd vibes
Recorded 23 March 1950 in NYC
